The 18 Missionary ladies of First
Baptist Church, Palm Coast, Florida, met at the church at 3:30 AM on Friday, and
everyone was on time! We had plenty of help loading our 18 suitcases of donated
items (1,000 pounds) and our 18 personal suitcases, plus assorted carry-ons. We
had no traffic and arrived at JAX airport two hours early. The airport personnel were so kind in helping
us and we didn’t even have our bags weighed! Whew. We arrived in Atlanta 25
minutes ahead of schedule. We ate our bag lunches, chatted a while and continued
our journey to arrive safely in Guatemala City. We spent a half hour looking
for one missing supply suitcase, and again, the personnel were so kind and
patient. We decided we had to leave without the suitcase, and since we were at
the airport so long, wearing out the employees (they were yawning and groaning),
they passed us right through customs. As we were meeting outside with Howie,
the director of the Malnutrition Center who came to pick us up, a woman came
out telling us that the suitcase was found. The van ride from the airport was colorful and
scenic as we passed through the winding roads of various towns and made our way
up to the mountains. People waved and smiled as we weaved through the heavy
traffic. The weather was beautiful.
During our travel time, we already
started to share testimonies with one another, uplifting and encouraging one
another. We look forward to doing more of the same. We have all bonded quickly.
We did get to visit the babies and
young children for a bit before dinner. They happily came running to us,
smiling, and lifting their little arms up to us begging to be picked up. Of
course we accommodated them. Oh, what joy that was. We had just a taste of
things to come.
Would you believe that our first
dinner was a wonderful ITALIAN meal of spaghetti and meat sauce, fresh salad,
fresh fruit, French bread and desserts, including the all-time favorite of
banana pudding. It was prepared by precious volunteers, Art and Ilvey, who are
at the Center for long stretches at a time.
We are now preparing for bed. We
are very tired and very full…both our stomachs and our hearts, as we
experienced the wonderful grace of God in unique ways. We all send our love to
all of you, and know you will continue to pray that we will be a blessing while
we are here. Of course, we can see that we will be blessed as well.
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